March 11, 2008

Your questions!

Do you have any questions you'd like to ask us about the Bruntwood Playwriting Competition, its a lot fairer that everyone gets the same feedback, so please do use this forum to ask questions you have.

38 Comments

Hi

I was wondering if someone could honestly answer whether a play about a couple having relationship troubles for example really has a chance of winning such a competition, because although the website indicates that you should write what you want to, I get the feeling that if it isn't concerned with current politics or something that is in current affairs that it won't be considered as much due to potential lack of mass or marketable appeal.

Thanks for your question. Please don't feel that you have to write an "issue" play to win the competition as we will consider every play on its own merits, whatever the content. A play about a relationship breakdown will be judged equally alongside a play about Iraq. As long as you tell a great story!
Good luck...

Last year I submitted a play and the feedback was good though it did say it wasnt politically correct. Does a play have to be absolutely politically correct and has anyone over fifty got a chance nowadays.

A friend passed your site onto me and I feel compelled to message you.

I fell out of love with the theatre way back. After years of writing for the theatre I realsised that 90% of the theatre I saw was uninspiring, didactic or worse, incredibly boring. Even my peers in the industry seemed disconnected from it's heart and soul. They too struggled to find a peice of theatre they really enjoyed it all seemed hard work, in the worst possible way - ie with no reward. After working hard to use these feelings to focus and inspire my writing, I eventually grew tired of the fight and lost the desire to work in the theatre all together.

BUT... reading the tips of your writers and the ethos of your organisation - your website in general - reminded me of why I became involved with theatre in the first place. There is an energy, a freshness and an openess of spirit that has rekindled my youthful feelings. So thanks. I'm so glad to have remembered those feelings and to see that there is still hope for the theatre. It's name is. Bruntwood. Best Wishes

The feedback you received was the opinion of one reader, and obviously each individual has their own feelings about what is "politically correct" and the degree to which this affects their judgement. No play would ever be rejected outright on the basis of political correctness, and the fact that you received feedback indicates you made it quite far in the judging process.

As for age, the entry is completely anonymous so no one will ever know the writer's age. Writers over fifty have years of experience to draw on and their own views of the world, which can be used to create a wonderful play. Harold Pinter, Tom Stoppard, and Alan Ayckbourne are all over 50 and they still write gripping new work. Anyone who writes something fresh and interesting, no matter their age, has a real chance.

Do you have to write the play like a script with each character's name or should it be written more like a book.

Thanks

Rochelle

Rochelle,

The play should be written in script format, with the names at the side. If you're unsure about what this should look like, please visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/insight/scriptsmart_formats.shtml for examples.

It's a long time since I wrote anything for theatre so I was wondering if the minute per page guide in writing for film and TV applies to theatre script format as well?
I'm sure it does but to be perfectly honest I cannot remember!
Thanks very much

Sheila,

It's generally slightly more than a minute a page. 50 pages is about an hour.

Question. Would a play set in a Dublin pub requiring authentic inner city accents; stand a chance in the competition?

Michael,

A play's location can be as specific or vague as you need for your play. The winning play last year was set in Romford and this was integral to the plot, while the second and third place plays were set in unspecific locations. Never worry about the production possibilities, just work on creating vibrant characters (having a specific accent can help with this) and telling a good story.

Your play should be as complete in itself as you can make it- ie it should have a final scene, for example - but that's not to say that if your play won a production we wouldn't work on redrafting it. The judges realise that a dramaturgical process begins after a play has won an award, so can see past solveable problems in scripts when they are judging.

Hi, and good to see this competition back, but crikey not much time. Anyway, would I assume that you would prefer plays that were totally original and not adaptations or based on other sources?
Many thanks

Hi. Thanks for the question. You can adapt your own work - eg turning a novel that you have written into a play - but we do not accept adaptations of sources by writers other than the entrant.

I am working on a play that has been read in front of audiences by professional actresses. The first 15 minutes were read at a Hampstead Theatre Start Night ages ago and I have more recently organised a reading of the whole play in front of friends. Although the actresses are professionals, nobody was paid on either occasion and the audience didn't pay for the reading of the whole thing. Do these readings disqualify my play?
Thanks.

The maximum that we allow is one full rehearsed reading, so you ARE eligible to apply for the competition.

I note that some folk got feedback on their entry last year. I entered but got no feedback. Is it possible there is some that never got back to me. I would be very interested to see it if there was as this may help me with this year's entry. Thanks

Hi. We do state in the rules that no correspondence can be entered into regarding scripts, and this still applies. Last time we sent out feedback to the top one hundred plays on the long longlist and we aim to do this again. So if you did not receive feedback last time it means that you didn't make the 100.

Would a play which has been commissioned by a theatre but then not subsequently picked up by that theatre be eligible for entering into the competition?

It's fine to enter a play that has been initially commissioned by another theatre then released. As long as it's unproduced, free for production and you own the copyright.

Also... is there any chance of being able to print pages out easily from this website?(ie. black text on white, rather than the other way round). There's such good advice offered here that I don't want to lose it!!!! Many thanks!

Glad you are finding it useful! We are hoping to provide a download option on the website next month so watch this space..

I've been working for some time on a play based on verbatim transcripts ( for which I have been assigned copyright from those I interviewed for the purposes of writing/producing/publishing a play). This, as David Hare pointed out re Via Dolorosa, takes as much writing and structuring as an imagined play, but is it acceptable for this comeptition and would a play as monologic as Hare's be considered?

This has been a thinker for us! As we haven't got anything in the entry rules about verbatim theatre, we have decided that we will allow verbatim entries as they are not adaptations of the written word. Monologue plays will certainly be judged equally. Good luck..

I have two plays either of which I can submit, however, is it poss to submit both as I am finding it really difficult to decide which one to send?! Help. Both plays are comedies although totally different in content. Many thanks.

We only accept one play from a writer, so you will have to decide between them I'm afraid! Tough choice, but send us the one you feel most proud of.
Good luck,
Jo Combes

Just a couple of small things about the entry form. Does the real name of the writer go anywhere at all in the entry? Or do you, when getting back to a writer, refer to them all the time by their pseudonym?

Also, if you've written a short play before but this is your first full length play, should you tick the box or not?
Thanks
Debbie

Dear Debbie,

We do not want your real name anywhere on the entry form or play (unless it is in your email address). The scripts are arranged by pseudonym, and a real name might confuse things.

As for the new play box, that is for monitoring purposes only, so we can see who we are reaching with our publicity. It is up to you to decide if you want to count your short plays or not.

I have had a look at previous winners of this competition and although I know all plays are sent in using pseudonyms they all seem to be professional writers of some sort or had enormous amounts of training.
Has anyone ever come close to winning or being shortlised who hasn't written before?
I mean is it the story that's important or how professionally it's written?

Thanks

Dear Treegirl,

Essentially it's a combination of a good story and good storytelling. Someone can be very well trained and struggle with story telling while another person may instinctively know how to tell a story. Two of the shortlisted plays last year were the writers' first attempts at writing a full length play, and one of those two went on to win first place. Admittedly, if you know nothing at all about theatre as a medium for story telling, you'll probably struggle- but this is a competition looking for new talent, not necessarily a perfectly polished piece. Do the best that you can- we're looking for people who can tell a good story in an interesting way, even if it's not quite perfect.

What would you recomend for the lenghth of the play - number of pages wise? I read about 50 pages is an around hour stage time but if you are doing quite large chunks of monologues in the play this ovbiously takes up less page space but more time. What would you say is the minimum and maximum number of pages for a play? And also do you recomend putting the play ito two acts or just writting the thing as a whole?

Thanks

Dear Michelle,

As you have noticed, there is no solid way of determining the length of the play based on the number of pages. Honestly, the best way to estimate the time of a play is to read it out loud (this will also help you find those awkward bits of dialogue) and time it. However, if you still want to use pages, a page is roughly a minute give or take a few seconds. Therefore, a full length script is usually between 50 and 120 pages- but this depends on how you format it and the font size you use. As for act breaks, it's up to you. Do you feel the action would benefit from a break or would you prefer it to run smoothly? It's up to you.

Hello!
i've been doing performing arts drama (acting) for 3 years and i've desided to write scripts, novels, poem etc. i've got the passion and now with this i no i'm gonna do good. my questions are; do i need to get my script copywrited before i send it to you. is it ok for me to set it in America becasuse i've got alot of poitical veiws about current stuff.

thanks for your time.

Dear Andrew,

You do not need to copyright a script as long as you have written it and own the rights (meaning no one else has paid you for it). You can also set your play where ever you want.

Just wondering if there is going to be an extension on the dead-line? Nearly there but would like to do another draft.

Dear Sheridan,

The June 13th deadline is final, I'm afraid. As we have only a limited time to process and judge all the scripts, the date cannot be pushed back. However, you do still have almost a month and a half, so do the best you can. We will be judging as much on talent and story telling as on how polished the piece is.